Both young men's eyes raised in question to that.
"I just mean, not any normal magical being could handle that much power forced on them." She regarded Jae. "If it were you stabbed with that dagger, I'm guessing it would not have gone so well."
"It didn't go well with me," Colby pointed out in grim reminder. But she wasn't wrong, he surmised. That much power was unnatural.
Being born with it, like Jasper Thorndike, or Colin Jacoby, even though still dangerous and potentially unstable, their bodies were made for it—or born into it and thus adjusted over time as the power developed. And from what The Magicante had taught him, with a lot of training, the power was manageable. Jasper had done so—right up until I killed him he thought morosely. He shifted tensely. Let's just add another stack of guilt on the pile…
When it came to the magic, Colby had been lucky, if that's what you could call it. He had the Immortality Stone to back him up. And he'd gotten help from The Magicante, too. Without those things, the magic would have overwhelmed him much sooner, and released itself in much scarier ways.
Was that what his father had wanted?
Or had his father believed he was capable of handling and adapting to it?
"I would not have fared near as well," Jae expressed.
"You've got the beast inside of you," Katana reminded matter-of-factly. "That might count for something."
"Actually, I'm guessing that would only prove worse. That much magic, an uncontrollable monster…" not an image he wanted to linger. And another staunch reminder that Colby had been under extreme pressure and duress, and had managed to overcome it. Kind of earned him a little more respect in Jae's perspective.
Katana shook her head with a final eye roll at the dagger. "And I thought my father was messed up."
Jae cut out a laugh. He'd once thought his father was the worst, but now, he'd give up a lot of things to have life back to the way it was before he'd messed things up. But his father and family were alive, no thanks to him. He didn't have any reasonable clue how to thank Colby for that, but found himself staring at the guy.
It was gratitude Colby didn't want, didn't believe he deserved. But the way Jae made him feel about it with his silent appreciation, Colby almost believed for a moment that it was possible that he did—and there was that roll of emotion eating away at his brain again.
How was it a look, one simple look, had the capability to express a hundred unsaid things? A shared understanding that needed no words.
"Tense much," rumbled Katana. "I've seen some brooders in my day, but you both win top prize."
They ignored her goading this time.
Colby retreated into his own thoughts.
He wished he could question his father, and get a straight, honest answer. What exactly was his end game in this scenario? He seemed to know so much, had he known the magic would prove too much too? Did he care, at all, what happened to him? Or to anyone?
Colby let the answer to that question admit itself.
He'd already been thinking this before he'd even gotten onto the island and witnessed what was happening there, the conditions of those people—Jae's people. People in the magical community. He didn't comprehend what made them so different, or unworthy, of respect. Why did his father hate them so much? Or think so little of them, he did not care what happened to them. Why did it have to be all, or none? Why wasn't there an option of, can't we all work together and get along?
The only conclusion Colby kept returning to, is that it was wrong, and he refused to go along with it just because he was supposed to. But if he was brutally honest about it all—the future scared the crap out of him. He was falling deeper and deeper into a choice he did not regret, but made him question, everything. And this weight on his chest—it was getting heavier. And yet something else just as weighted, and hidden in the depths, was trying to push its way up. Something ugly. Something he wasn't ready for.
Things had slid back into that disquiet again.
Katana's gaze flitted between the young men. Is this seriously all they were going to do? Jae—whose gaze was frozen in commiseration, directed at Colby—and Colby, who was gripping the blankets on the bed by his sides like if he didn't, he might fall.
They seriously needed to relax!
The guy was a cannon waiting for someone to pull the trigger.
Did they have no sense of fun? Or freedom. Or the wherewithal to say, screw everyone else!
She jumped out of her seat to break the tension. "Don’t suppose there’s anything to eat?" They ogled her like she was speaking some foreign language. "I’m a stress eater," she admitted with an eye roll, although with no apology in her tone.
"Food. Yeah." Jae shook himself out of the intensity and slid off the bed. He sifted through the cupboards until he’d gathered everything left behind. It wasn’t much, but it would do for today. And they set in, cooking up some canned meat, and pancakes. There was even an unopened bottle of syrup.
##
Outside, a ghostly shape hovered up near the tree tops peering down at a Catawitch standing guard near an open door to wagons that had been abandoned a while ago. He floated downward and spied on the youngsters inside, coming to life, cooking up some food. And he recognized them, but could not imagine on his dead life, what they were doing here of all places.
But Eddy had not returned here for them.
He had come to say some goodbyes, to wait for his son to be ready for him. Sad really, that after all the years he'd spent here, waiting for the day to be free of this place, somehow over that time it had become a home of sorts. He was ready to leave it, but there wasn't any reason to keep him from returning from time to time. The simple knowledge that he was free to move about the land of the living was freeing enough.
And although dead, a ghost of himself forever, he was overwhelmed by this day. Tired. Needed something to focus on to pass the time until his son needed him. So he'd come back. Surprised to find the youngsters in the wagons.
Until today, he'd been a ghost with a purpose—make his fiancé see the truth—tell his son who his father was. He'd accomplished that. The rest would unfold with time. Something he had a lot of.
His curiosity got the best of him and he inched closer, watching the youngsters. Jae Mochrie—friend to his son. Colby—not exactly a friend to his son—had tried to hurt, even kill him—but his son's, sister's twin, and a young man caught up in the middle of a nasty mess. The other one—he didn't know her. Striper, obviously.
It hit him, what had happened. They'd fled. The answer was obvious in their movements, their eyes, their voices… that subtle hint of desperation and fear.
They were on the run.
They needed help.
Heck, they were just teens stuck in the middle of a nightmare they never asked to be a part of.
But it proved more than anything that he still had a purpose in this afterlife. He had to do something to pass the many long years ahead. And really, helping them would also help his son, if indirectly. And that was a job he'd take on any day of the week. If he spent his afterlife helping whenever possible—well, there was simply no excuse not to, other than how exactly did he go about helping the living?
He'd ponder it for the night. The poor things looked exhausted anyway—the young men, anyway. Probably head off to bed after eating, so he'd wait. But even as he floated away his ghostly mind was already coming up with a hundred different things to say to them, explain to them—knowledge was the only true power. And that, he had a lot of.
CHAPTER 5
Meghan Jacoby sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a long push. Her lungs ached and her vocal chords were exhausted after all the talking. She'd promised to call the meeting, but the doing of it was so much harder than she'd expected.
Mostly because rather than permit her to talk, and simply listen, there were constant interruptions. And questions. And debates—most taking place as if she wasn't even present in the room—and hello! This was her meeting!
One benefit—Jasper had taken some of her blood and finished the serum—the one he and Robert Motley had created that would prevent the Stones from hurting anyone ever again. It removed the Stone's ability to suck out someone's magic. And it worked exactly like he'd expected it to. And as an added benefit, her blood had unexpectedly added a healing property to the serum. It was helping the injured heal faster.
Not all. Some had such severe injuries not even her healing blood was enough to bring them back from the brink, at least not in one night.
And to call them injuries was almost an insult. It was the results of torture, plain and simple. They'd had so many sessions with the Stones, so much of their magic taken—but never all of it. Her father had wanted it replenished so they could continue to take more. The Svoda had become magic feeding machines, and nothing more. Just one more reason—like she needed one—to despise her father.
At least now everyone who'd gotten the serum would no longer be a victim of that vile magic. Something she hoped her father would not discover. She wished there was some way to inoculate everyone on the entire planet. Because in doing so, they'd take a big chunk of her father's power away right there—his new Stone, even if created, would not be able to harvest any magic. Even if she didn't make it because he succeeded in using her to create his magic harvester, her father would be denied his real prize.
And really, if all went well, and Meghan was able to destroy the Immortality Stone, as well as every other Stone her father had in his possession, no one would ever have to fear the Stones again. But knowing the cure worked was a huge win for them all.
And then there was Colby—she had more hope than she probably should. But he'd freed those people. According to Mireya, Jae was with him. It gave her some comfort, but not nearly as much as knowing they were safe, somewhere, would. And her twin's mind, it was skittering all over the place. His block was firmly in place. He wasn't reaching out, or letting her in. In fact, she got the keen sense she was the last person he wanted to communicate with.
And the more she thought about it, this made sense. If he was having some existential crisis, which if she had to bet money, she'd bet on this, he needed to do so on his own terms. Not hers. Not with her badgering him. She'd made her stance clear already. It was time for him to make his own choices and that did not include her interfering—only worrying about him. And hoping he made the right choice. And even more selfishly, she wanted a relationship with him. Colby was her twin after all.
Ugh. She really was terrible at being the good sister. The patient sister. But she was smart enough to keep her nose—or mind, in this case—out of his business and focus on her own. It was odd, but even with the walls in Colby's mind firmly in place, his emotions kept leaking through, and though mostly bleak and confused, they were laced with this gratitude—aimed at Jae. So, whatever was going on, she'd let it unfold.
And in a way, she was afraid of the outcome. Afraid he'd go back to their father. And if he did, she might have to fight him. That didn't make it easy to let down her own walls. She wanted a future with her twin—her real brother. Like she used to have with Colin and never appreciated until it was too late. A relationship that might never be the same. But it was difficult to get excited about a possible future with her real twin when she had no idea where his loyalties would end up.
One moment of weakness, and conflict, that made him reach out to her, did not a mutual agreement, and a shared future, make. She might not win Colby over in the end. Their father had powerful weapons at his disposal.
She needed to keep her head focused on the task ahead of her—and the meeting! Which had quite suddenly gone quiet with all eyes fixed on her, waiting for a response. Crap! She'd tuned out again, and had no idea what they were waiting for her to respond to. Sebastien sat next to her and struggled to hold back a chuckle. She jabbed him with her foot—her misery was no laughing matter. Ivan, a few seats away, smirked and gave her an amused eye roll.
Someone repeated the question. It was Curtis Bevins, still the temporary leader of the Banished. "Can you tell us exactly how you plan to destroy the Immortality Stone?"
Ugh. This again. She'd already been over this.
Ivan, wonderful, magnificent Ivan, reminded them the specifics were not important, only that there was a way. They'd decided to keep the important details a bit more hush hush, so as not to chance the wrong person overhearing, and the information getting back to her father. Thus making her entire life, along with those who'd already sacrificed so much, pretty much a moot point.
Billie Sadorus sat a few tables away, along with Maura and Noah Flummer. Kanda and her Uncle Arnon were not far away, close to Nashua and a few other Tunkapog she did not recognize. Sebastien's parents had opted out and were assisting in helping the sick Svoda.
Aloyna and Isabella Crane were there. Both wearing equally irritated features as Meghan, by the incessant interruptions—that brought a smirk to her lips. If she had to be like any two women on the planet, she didn't mind it was them. Jasper was missing- made some hasty excuse and had not been seen since last night. She wondered if it was something to do with the army, but hadn't asked yet.
Nona flitted restlessly down by her ankles. Hissing whenever someone irritated Meghan, on her Master's behalf. She wasn't outnumbered, not really. But even with some on her side, there just as many who were not.
More like, they were simply confused and trying to get up to speed on things. She only wished they'd do it faster—time was an important factor. The longer they dawdled around twiddling their thumbs and debating things, chances only increased that her father was going to find out her secrets.
She'd taken the advice of those closest to her, and they'd all agreed, that everyone deserved to know exactly what Jurekai Fazendiin had planned for them. And had already done. But the precise how's and why's and when's, they didn't need to know all of it, especially if it was potentially threatening to the final outcome—of them winning this war. If they were to have any chance of success, they needed to make every right move. There was no room for mistakes. If they messed up and Meghan's father discovered her secrets, they'd have no chance. He'd stop them at every turn.
But now, after hours of explanations and debates, they all knew the ugly and frightening truth. Her father planned to return magic, harvest it, and make a new, even more powerful Stone. And she was the one who had to destroy it; but telling them that, without telling them how, was proving more complicated than she thought. She'd hoped the whole, she was part of the prophecy, so just trust me, would satisfy them. But they always wanted to know more than she was willing to share. She kept trying to point out that they were not soaking in the most important detail—that they could win if they'd manage to get their heads wrapped around the truth.
She'd explained some of Juliska's history too. It felt right, fair, they know exactly how their once beloved Queen had fallen. She left out the Colin part. It would only add more fuel to the he's dangerous for us all, fire. She explained Cornell Tibbitt's ugly demise, along with Ivan's father—with his permission, of course—and why he was the first killed by the Scratchers. Some of the Svoda, even after all they'd suffered, were still struggling to wrap their heads around everything. Part shock, perhaps. Part unwillingness to believe they'd all been so bamboozled.
"Welcome to the club," Meghan clucked in a testy grumble.
And while she was confident that almost everyone gathered was loyal to the cause of removing her father from power, she didn't want to take unnecessary risks. And there were some parts of her story that others just didn't need to know. Like that it was she, herself, who went back in time to create the prophecy and reason she was even born. She did not want her f
ather to discover this because she feared the rest would unravel.
It finally came time to explain Jasper, Aloyna, and their story, plus the army he'd created. The serum he'd come up with to combat the Stone's power—many had questions as to how he'd done all of this and why he hadn't shown himself before now. Why he'd been in hiding.
Meghan almost laughed, out loud when someone questioned this.
They got her unamused point—they despised Projectors in this day. Prime example—Colin. But Jasper was out and proud and ever so slowly, changing people's minds. Other people's twitchiness was something Jasper was used to, but not something that had always been the norm. He was hundreds of years old and well in control of himself. She hoped that one point alone might bode well for Colin in the future, if not today.
If they were able to see her brother's potential for good, not only bad, it would help matters a lot. But so far, they were mostly afraid of Colin. Equally, in that he was a Projector, and so young. At sixteen, he was untrained and unstable.
The meeting progressed, and to her total annoyance, they kept focusing on what she thought was the least important details. Like instead of being relieved they had an army waiting and ready to fight on all their behalves, they wanted to know who this army consisted of. And where they were, and where they'd been? And exactly who would be leading them into battle? And who all was expected to fight, and when would they be fighting?
It was all downright exhaustive.
The biggest problem was agreeing on how exactly to move forward.
Meghan wasn't one for strategy building, especially for planning a battle, and the reality was, few in attendance had ever been in any sort of battle before. She'd assumed everyone would want to defer to Jasper and Aloyna, but had been a little taken aback when some were not so sure. Meghan assumed it was because technically, these people were strangers whom she was asking them all to trust. Not easy for people to do, not after all they'd been through, even if she was some chosen one to fulfill this prophecy, or not. And she got that. She really and truly did. But she needed them to get over their aversion and trust issues, fast. Before her father had the chance to discover all her secrets. This was her only chance to catch him off guard, and she wanted to strike sooner, rather than later.
Redeem (The Mage Mirrors, The Fallen Queen, and The Forgotten Child) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 10) Page 4
